"This is preposterous!" Octavian rose to his feet. "We're supposed to believe she's part of a prophecy because of a knife? And the seven? We just accept that without a vote or debate or-"

Octavian's complaint was quickly interrupted as Tyson ran into the room, yelling Percy's name.

__________________________________________

Crystal's eyes widened at the sight before her. Tyson had burst in with Percy's hellhound following close behind. What shocked her most was the harpy on Mrs. O'Leary's back. Crystal had seen many harpies, as they roam around Camp Half-Blood as night watchers, but this one was unlike any other she had seen. She was extremely skinny, with stringy red hair and a sack-cloth dress. Vibrant red feathers decorated her wings. 

"Ella is scared," Tyson said, his eye sparkling with worry. 

The harpy was muttering to herself, picking at her feathers. "No more boats. Titanic, Lusitana, Pax. No boats for harpies."

Leo narrowed his eyes. "Did that chicken girl compare my ship to the Titanic?"

"Leo!" Crystal elbowed him harshly. "She's a harpy, don't be rude."

"Sorry," Leo muttered. 

Crystal glanced at Hazel, catching her looking away from Leo with nervousness. Crystal wondered what was bothering her. Before Crystal could say anything, Tyson spoke up.

"Ella is scared," He said. "We need to take her away, but she can not go onto the ship."

"No ships," Ella whimpered. 

The harpy's gaze landed straight on Annabeth. "There she is. Wisdom's daughter walks alone-"

Frank stood quickly, interrupting Ella. "Maybe it isn't the best time to-"

"The Mark of Athena burns through Rome," Ella ignored him, continuing to speak. "Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, won through pain from a woven jail."

Crystal's jaw dropped, staring at Ella. Percy stood and grabbed Tyson's arm.

"Hey! How about we take Ella to get some fresh air?" Percy began ushering the Cyclops and the harpy away. 

"Wait for a second," Octavian gripped a teddy bear, eyes boring into Ella. "That sounded like a-"

"Ella reads a lot!" Frank blurted, obviously wanting to change the subject. "We found her at a library."

"I'm sure it was something she read in a book, that's all." Hazel inputted. 

Crystal raised an eyebrow. It was clear Percy, Frank, and Hazel were hiding something. Was there a third prophecy? What was with the Oracle these days? 

"Octavian wouldn't let it go. "That was a prophecy! It had to be."

Crystal looked around, unsure of what to do. There was so much tension. She glanced at Percy, who's eyes were screaming for help. 

"Octavian," Crystal laughed awkwardly. "Do you even hear yourself? I don't know if your harpies are different from here, but ours barely have enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Are you saying yours can tell the future? What, do you like, consult them for your auguries?"

Nervous laughter erupted and Octavian's face turned red. "No, but-"

"She's just reciting lines from some books," Annabeth interrupted, helping Crystal out. "Besides, we have two other prophecies to worry about."

Percy continued ushering the group out after looking toward Reyna for approval. 

When they were gone, Reyna let out a sigh. "Well, there is one thing we must do. We need to gain the senate's approval before letting our legionnaires leave for a quest."

Octavian scoffed. "This whole thing smells of treachery and that is not a ship of peace!"

"Why don't you come on board then?" Leo suggested. "You can have a tour. I'll even let you steer the boat!"

Octavian's face distorted in anger but Reyna spoke before he could, "It's a good idea. Go with him. We'll meet back up in an hour."

Crystal glanced at Leo, who had a different gleam in his eyes. It was one she had never seen before. He seemed as if he was smiling coldly, opposite of his usual warm grin. But as quickly as it was there, it was gone. Crystal narrowed her eyes. Something was up. 

"I'll go with," Crystal sat up straight. "To make sure Leo doesn't annoy Octavian to death."

Reyna nodded as Leo let out a small protest of 'hey!' Crystal stood, ignoring Octavian's grumbles. 

"We'll be back soon," Crystal turned to her friends, offering a small smile. 

The other demigods watched as Octavian, Leo, and Crystal head toward the rope ladder. Crystal allowed Leo to go up first, then Octavian. Crystal waved goodbye to Annabeth before she began to climb. The higher she climbed, however, a sinking feeling developed in her stomach. That flash in Leo's eyes set something off in Crystal. She brushed the feeling aside, climbing onto the deck of the Argo II. 

She straightened up, watching Leo pull Octavian to the wheel, chattering about the mechanics behind the ship. Octavian was clearly not happy about being onboard a weaponized ship. Deciding to let them do their thing, Crystal leaned against the rail of the ship, looking down onto New Rome. She hoped Annabeth would be able to convince the Romans to join them in the quest. 

Crystal could faintly hear Leo in the background, saying something about the sails. She smiled. Leo was proud of his ship and didn't let anyone forget it. Crystal's smile dropped quickly when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She gripped the railing tightly. 

Something feels... wrong... Crystal thought.

That sinking feeling she had proved itself right. 

"What are you doing?" Octavian shouted. 

Crystal whirled around and saw Leo nearing Octavian with his fist on fire. Octavian scrambled back, running toward Crystal.

"Traitor!" He screamed, poking Crystal in the shoulder. "This was a trap!"

Crystal was beyond confused. What happened to Leo and why was he attacking Octavian? An evil chuckle resonated at the back of Crystal's mind. 

Crystal growled in realization. "Are you kidding me?" 

I warned you were getting to close to that Valdez. Everyone has a weakness... Gaea hissed. 

In a fluid movement, Crystal shoved Octavian behind her and thrust her hand out, using a gust of wind to extinguish a column of flames hurling at them. Leo lit his hand again, the flames illuminating his face. His eyes were glazed over. Something was taking control of him. Someone was taking control of him. 

"Leo!" Taking a step forward, Crystal held out her hands in surrender. "Snap out of it!"

She pulled Octavian down with her as she dodged another fireball aimed at her face. There was no way she could fight Leo. 

"That's not Leo," Crystal mumbled to herself, avoiding another blast of flames. "He's being controlled. That's not Leo!"

She was momentarily distracted and Leo sent a punch to her gut, knocking Crystal down. Crystal grunted in pain, holding her stomach. 

"Must... destroy!" Leo yelled, heading toward a ballista. 

"No!" Crystal tackled the demigod, pinning him to the floor. 

She flipped her body over his, straddling his waist. "Leo, snap out of it!"

Leo bucked against her, slamming his head right into her face. Crystal reared back in pain, holding her now bleeding nose. Leo pushed her off, running toward the giant weapon. Crystal reached out, knocking him down with a whip of air. Before Leo fell, he yanked the lever, releasing a flaming ball upon New Rome. A shrill pierced the air and Crystal watched as the fireball flew toward the forum below. Without thinking, Crystal jumped off the railing, launching herself into the air. She flew past the fireball, landing herself several feet in front of the screaming crowd. Crystal turned around, facing the giant ball of flames. Taking a deep breath, Crystal shot into the air again, flying toward the firey ball. Letting out a battle cry, Crystal twisted her body into a flying kick. From her foot, a sharp gust of wind sliced the ball in half, causing it to explode in midair. Chunks of debris fell onto either side of the crowd. Crystal flicked her wrist and water began to rise from glasses of water in the forum, dowsing small flames from the debris. 

Manipulating the air around her, she bounced back up to Leo, who was continuing the attack by firing a massive spear engulfed in Greek fire. She collided with him, knocking him away from the ballistae. Crystal quickly recovered, flipping into a battle stance. Leo stood as well, lighting his fists on fire. They circled each other, waiting for one to make the first move. Leo yelled, attacking Crystal. 

"I don't want to hurt you!" Crystal dodged a wall of flames.

Leo's mouth stretched into an evil grin. "But I do."

Leo punched, sending a blast of flames. Crystal swiftly turned, avoiding his fist and knocking Leo against the railing. He growled, standing back up. Leo ran and kicked at Crystal with his right leg. Sliding onto her knees, she ducked under his foot and grabbed Leo's left leg on her way up, causing his back to collide with the ship's deck. Crystal winced when Leo's head slammed into the deck, promptly knocking him out. 

"Crystal!" 

At the calling of her name, Crystal turned to see Annabeth and Percy crawling aboard. 

"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" Percy breathed in astonishment, looking over at Leo.

Crystal smiled. "You were gone for a long time."

Her eyes widened as a grey dragon soared into view. It circled the ship and dropped Piper and Jason on deck. Crystal could see Hazel flying around on her horse, distracting the Roman archers. Everything was in chaos. 

"Get us out of here!" Percy yelled. 

Crystal bolted toward the command center and looked at all the controls. Her mind whirled as she tried to remember how to use them. 

"Hurry!" Annabeth called out. 

"What makes you think I can fly this ship?" Crystal screeched.

Annabeth looked at her incredulously. "You mean you can't? You helped build this thing!"

"Of course I can fly it! Leo just made it super complicated!" Crystal grabbed a throttle and yanked it back, praying it was the right lever.  

Crystal slammed into a wall as the Argo II tilted at a steep angle. Anyone who wasn't holding on slid down the deck. Crystal reached for a handle as anchoring ropes snapped and the ship shot into the sky, away from New Rome. Once they were high enough, Crystal repositioned the throttle, leveling them out in the clouds. 

Crystal breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Does someone want to explain what exactly just happened?" Percy asked, lifting Leo onto his shoulder. 

Crystal moved to wrap Leo's arm around her other shoulder, helping Percy. "I kicked Leo's ass, that's what happened."